I am FINALLY to the stage where I can cut the scarf joint for my neck.I decided to use oak as the wood for the neck, because this is my first ukulele and this is just practice to get the feel of building.I don't have a band saw or table saw.My question to the forum is which would be best hand saw for cutting the scarf joint?Miter sawJapanese pull sawor regular everyday push it until your arm falls off saw?Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.Mahalo to any who post here.Bob

Do you have a chop saw? If you have one of these, or have a friend with one, a simple jig will allow you to cut the 15 degree angle and will save you a lot of hand sanding on the joint to get it to fit together.

Dear lefty and Don,Thank you both for your posts.I was thinking that with the back saw, it might be a little easier. Thanks for the confirmation.

Don,I don't have a chop saw, ( just starting out in luthier stuff) and I live out in the country so there arn't many people around me, and certianly no luthiers.If it is not too much trouble, I would like to see pictures of the chop saw scarf jig.It might help me to figure out how best to cut this joint.My email is acabooe@yahoo.com

I use a 12" power miter saw (much like a chop saw) with a simple jig I made from scraps of pine and oak to do my scarf cutting. I'll have to get some pics of the jig since it can be used with a hand saw if needed, though the jig is set up to allow for the approx. 1/8" kerf of the blade. You'd have to adjust the jig to accomodate a smaller kerf (like the pull saw) so you wouldn't get any wobble/wander in your stroke.

You could also get a smaller miter saw than mine. I figure even an 8 inch saw would work OK and you could get it for fairly cheap. I've found the miter saw to be extremely useful for a lot of other kinds of projects around my shop and home and have probably used it more than any other power saw I own.

The miter saw does the cut very accurately and in about 2 seconds. The trick is to be sure the workpiece is solidly clamped to the jig and the jig is tight against the saw fence. Any movement during the cut will require you to do a lot of sanding to get the joint to fit right...

Mahalo for the table saw jig link, Bob! Slick, I may try it. I printed the drawing. It is very similar to my jig. The main difference is that mine doesn't slide on the table. With the miter saw jig, it and the workpiece stay totally stationary and the blade is pulled down into it. So, if the jig and workpiece are rock solid to the saw table as I mentioned, there is no chance of play and the scarf will be near perfect. I suppose if the table saw has a good quality, accurate fence the same would be true, however.

I still think my jig with slight modification could work for you with a hand pull saw. It is really very simple to make, certainly not rocket science. I'll try to get a picture of it and maybe do a drawing with dimensions ASAP.

I totally understand your situation with the wife and young son. Been there before, more or less. But after 50 years of playing with wood and tools my wife has realized she'd better play along. So Christmas for me is usually at least one really great power or hand tool from her as a gift.

This past Christmas was outstanding. I ended up with a brand new Grizzly 17" heavy-duty bandsaw and a Grizzly 18/36 open-end drum sander! I'm in heaven!

Hey Jeff,I would like to see some pics/ plans of your jig.What I have been doing so far is clamping metal straight edges to the wood and going slowly to make sure that the saw cuts where it is supposed to.It has worked ok, but I am always on the look out for a more efficient way of doing things.

The close up at the bottom hopefully gives you a good idea of how the jig holds the workpiece. In the one picture of the sample workpiece (#3), it is not the correct size for a neck (I didn't have any neck blanks handy) so doesn't give you a good idea of what the scarf would look like. But it does demonstrate how the workpiece is positioned and clamped in the jig. The clamp would be positioned further out away from the saw blade so the blade will clear it.

Also, the jig itself would be clamped to the saw table.

Let me know if you have questions.

JeffP.S. Yes, the saw is set up on its mobile base in my dining room. We're doing extensive remodeling of our old farmhouse and I am cutting hardwood flooring and oak baseboards and trim for our kitchen extension... Like I said, a miter saw is one of the most useful tools you can have.

I have built a sliding jig for the table saw, but may need to build a chop saw version.

I'm wondering if you use the 'fall down' that projects through the fence as you headstock? If so, does it drop away safely from the blade without damaging it? Not one of those places where I'd like to stick my hand to catch it.

That's correct, the "fall down" is the headstock piece. I neglected to say that I put a scrap of wood under it to keep it from actually falling. As long as your blade is sharp, it will be cut without any tear out. Just go slow until you reach the bottom of the cut and then pull it down quickly. Also be sure you start the saw BEFORE you bring it down into the workpiece. Don't let the blade go back up until it has stopped completely.

I've had my miter saw (it's a 12 inch Craftsman Professional compound model) for several years now and it still has its original 40 tooth carbide tipped blade. I've built many things using this saw including a 12' X 28' house addition. All the framing lumber (and more) was cut with this blade. I also used it to cut 4X4 treated posts to build a fairly large pergola. Carbide tipped blades are awesome and well worth the cost!

This saw does have some flaws. I have to adjust the blade's vertical angle when at the left 45 degree setting by 2 degrees or the miter will be off. No amount of tweaking with the adjustments alleviates this. No idea why. Also, the laser cutting guide is virtually worthless...

Bottom line, I haven't had any problems with the headstock piece using this jig.

By the way, the jig's fence also has a 15 degree cut at the end closest to the saw. I made this by putting the assembled jig on the saw table, putting a piece of scrap in as the workpiece and then making the cut. The saw also cut the end of the jig fence to the correct angle. When positioning the jig, align that cut with the side of the blade before clamping the jig to the table.

I ran the small holding piece on the left side through my table saw set at 15 degrees to make the end cut. I positioned that with a workpiece in place on the jig, its rear side aligned with the bottom board's rear edge, so that the block was tight against the surface of the workpiece. I then marked the position and screwed the block in place from underneath, countersinking the screws (all the screws in the jig are countersunk so it sits flat on the saw table).

The only problem with that is that it assumes all my neck blanks will be the same thickness. I should probably modify this jig so that the block can be adjusted for various neck blank thicknesses and then tightened down with bolts and wing nuts.

I had problems with the first version I built of my scarf joint jig with the free end flying away from the back of the saw, so I modified my jig to add a support and hold down. My jig sits on a 12 inch Dewalt sliding compund miter saw, and therefore I had more than the normal space behind the blade to work with.

Here are some pics:

Jig on saw after a neck scarf cut.

Jig from front.

Jig from side. Pine 2X4 cut-offs as hold down for neck end.

Jig from back. The little plywood block at the end of the neck is a stop block to get the 2 1/2 inches right each time. It also aids in keeping the neck end where it belongs after cut.